COVID-19: Mpraeso SHS isolates 9 students as GNECC says closure of schools “inevitable”

Nine students of Mpraeso Senior High School in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region have been isolated over COVID-19 fears.

The school is awaiting results of tests conducted on them as they receive medical attention and management.

It follows the confirmation of eight cases at Accra Girls’ Senior High School which threw the student body and parents into pandemonium.

Subsequently, there have been reports of COVID-19 scares in other senior high schools across the country, just about a month after the President directed that they be opened for final-year students to go sit their exams.

A few days ago, a final-year student of KNUST SHS in Kumasi died on campus after bouts of vomiting and stomach issues.

The school authorities, according to the students, neglected their colleague out of fear of contracting COVID-19.

In the light of these incidents, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) said it is of the view that “should the unfortunate happenings continue, closing down the schools will be inevitable”.

It, however, called on “the students and parents to exercise restraint and register their displeasure with decorum and due process”.

A statement signed by Interim Board Chair Joseph Atsu Homadzi, GNECC said: “We request an immediate commencement of investigations into the circumstances leading to the death of the final-year student of KNUST SHS and ensure that anyone found culpable faces the full rigours of the law”.

It also said there must be adequate provision of the “necessary protective accessories (sanitisers, gloves, soap, veronica buckets etc.) to all schools and ensure that staff and students are well-protected”.

It said the GES must “ensure schools comply with WHO/Ministry of Health protocols and the guidelines given to the schools by the Ghana Education Service prior to the opening of the schools”.

Additionally, “The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service must liaise with the Ministry of Health to put in place a health desk in all senior high schools to provide medical care to students in emergencies before sending them to health facilities where necessary”.

“The GES must ensure parents and guardians of the safety of their wards in school during this period of uncertainty”, GNECC advised.

Read Also: Police calm protest in KNUST SHS following death of student after alleged neglect over Covid-19 fears

Read Also: Knust-SHS-Headmistress-Interdicted